In inkjet printing, a printing head may be scanned back and forth across a printing medium, such as a sheet of paper. As the printing head is scanned across the printing medium, the printing head may deposit ink on the medium. Deposition of the ink may be performed in accordance with a set of instructions. For example, the instructions may include programming, in addition to a file that describes an image or text to be printed on the medium. A single pass of the printing head over the medium may result in printing a single swath of the image on the medium.
Concurrently with scanning the printing head across the medium, the medium may be advanced in a direction that is perpendicular to the scanning direction. The advancing of the medium may enable the image to be printed on the medium as a series of adjacent printed swaths. For example, between passes of the printing head over the medium, the medium may be advanced by a distance that is approximately equal to the width of the swath.
The combined coordinated motions of the printing head and the medium may enable an image to cover a wider area of the medium than would be possible if only the printing head or the medium were moved.